Middle East: What Cinema Can Do has now begun to prepare its sixth edition to be held from November 29 to December 8, 2013 at the same venue, Les 3 Luxembourg in the Latin quarters in Paris.

Our call of entries is open to all filmmakers: shorts, fiction features, documentary features and TV formats that bring to the screen the issues, stories and life in the Middle East. Please contact us to find out how to submit your film.

Stéphane Hessel, Forever With Us

Stephane Hessel was someone who could truly be called "a beautiful person", generous and radiant.He was not immortal; however, even at 95 he wasn't supposed to take his leave. We expected him always to be with us, and thus he will remain, present among us in each thought we direct his way.

He has been a permanent face at the venue Les 3 Luxembourg since 2004 attending the event "What Cinema Can Do." I remember back to the 2011 festival, for which we scheduled two charming film portraits and he was invited as our guest of honor.

The day before the screening, his wife Christiane phoned me to request that the discussion after the film be brief, since Stephane had just come back from Prague and was quite tired. Upon his arrival in front of the cinema Les 3 Luxembourg, rue Monsieur le Prince, he was greeted by a round of applause. Inside the theater, the clapping built to an even greater crescendo.

At the end of the film when Stephane came up front for one of our usual film+debate evening showings, I was about to ask the audience to keep their questions brief when Stephane seized the mic and said , all smiles , "I warn you, I am not a man of few words"…and spent a mesmerizing hour of lively discussion with a delighted audience.

Stephane, my friend, my comrade, who supported us through all these years, we invite you to join us at the next festival in December 2013 as it is not farewell that the entire festival team wants to say, but rather give you an even greater exaltation in the spirit of an everlasting friendship and humble respect of your life's work.

Janine EuvrardFounder of "What Cinema Can Do"

Item posted : 20/01/2012

Final Note: The Year of Hope

A two week event, a debate every night with prominent speakers, more than 60 films on the program, twenty filmmakers present, an eager and curious audience, at our usual venue in Paris: The fortnight was a success.

Our honoured guest of the evening, Leila Shahid, General Delegate of Palestine to the EU, will be joined for the debates by Yael Ben Yefet, an activist in the Tel Aviv Tent Protest Movement. The Judeo-Muslim-Morrocan filmmaker Nabil Ayouch will be present with his documentary feature, My Land.

What Cinema Can Do will end its fortnight with a tribute to Juliano Mer-Khamis, brutally murdered outside the Jenin Theatre this year. Highlights: several shorts by his students and a work in progress under the tutelage of Udi Aloni, While Waiting, as well as a 2008 film by Juliano entitled Me and My Father.

As the years go by, the conflict in the Arab regions changes; the awareness and involvement of the young people who have nothing to lose has exploded. Because of all these movements, it seemed important to us that this year's presentation of the event should be viewed according to themes and not just country by country.